Syria's domestic opposition rejects gov't call for dialogue

http://en.youth.cn
2013-02-26 00:24:00

DAMASCUS, Feb.25 (Xinhua) -- Syria's domestic opposition on Monday rejected to attend a dialogue "under the supervision of the government" but instead called for negotiations with "acceptable representatives" from the administration.

Speaking at a press conference, the National Coordination Body' s (NCB) chief, Hassan Abdul-Azim, dismissed the government's recent calls for dialogue, reiterating that negotiations should be held with an aim to "form a transitional government with full executive power to lay the new foundation for parliamentary and presidential elections."

The NCB's remarks came after Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem voiced his government readiness for talks with opposition groups.

"We are ready for talks with all parties that are desirous of them, including those who take up weapons, because we think that reform doesn't come through bloodshed but through dialogue," al- Moallem said in press statements during his visit in Moscow earlier in the day.

He also underlined his country's determination to continue the peaceful endeavors while combating terrorism.

For his part, the NCB's general secretary, Rajaa al-Naser, said he would not accept an interim government in exile. "We don't want two governments... we don't want a government that would deepen the cracks within the opposition."

However, he noted that his group backs forming a transitional government in line with the Geneva deal concluded last July. Under the deal, a national unity government should be formed by members of both the government and the opposition with the aim to get Syria out of its worsening crisis and oversee the drafting of a new constitution and the elections. The proposed agreement does not clearly bar President Bashar al-Assad from taking part in the power transition.

Meanwhile Moaz al-Khatib, head of opposition Syrian National Coalition, the main overseas opposition group, said Monday in Cairo that he hadn't get in touch with representatives of the Syrian administration in response to the foreign minister's remarks in Moscow

Earlier this week, the coalition said that it would not attend next month's Friends of Syria meeting in Rome in protest of the international community's lack of condemnation on the "crimes committed against the Syrian people."

Syria has been witnessing turmoil for nearly two years with thousands of people dead and injured. Syrian UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has placed the death toll from the 23-month-old turmoil at nearly 70,000.